Trafigura Wants to Build VLCC Terminal in Texas Gulf

Trafigura’s Texas Gulf Terminals, Inc. has applied for a permit to build a new offshore deep water port facility in the Gulf of Texas.

The application is in line with the U.S. crude oil production surge and accompanying growth in oil exports.

As disclosed by the global commodities trader, the terminal would have the capability to load very large crude carriers (VLCCs) and other tankers directly and fully via a single-point mooring buoy system (SPM).

Using SPMs eliminates ship traffic in inland ports as well as the “double handling” of the same crude oil, reducing the opportunity for spills and emissions each time the crude oil is transferred.

“The Texas Gulf Terminals Project will give U.S. crude oil producers, particularly Texas operators, safer, cleaner and more efficient access to very large crude carriers, ensuring that the economic and employment benefits of increasing domestic crude production can be fully realized right here at home,” Corey Prologo, Director, Texas Gulf Terminals Inc. and Director of Trafigura, North America, said.

The Texas Gulf Terminals Project is the latest of Trafigura’s investments in the U.S., including a nearly USD 1 billion investment in the export terminal and condensate splitter in Corpus Christi, Texas (Buckeye) and the construction of the Burnside Bulk Storage Terminal in Darrow, Louisiana.